Rigid welded frame



June 17, 1941. l| A ECKART ETAL 2,246,245

.RIGID WELDED 1=1RA4MLEA Filed June 21, 1940 MDM@ Patented June 17, 1941 Hugo Eckart and James E. McClellan, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application June 2.1, 1940, Serial No. 341,700

2 Claims.

This invention has reference to structural frames, its particular objective being the provision of a rigid welded knee structure which is simple in design and construction, sightly in appearance and. occupying aminimum space, and fully capable of taking the maximum moments imposed. c

The invention is useful wherever the junctions of structural members are subjected to force moments. Its particularly typical use however is at the knees or apex of structural arch and similar frames, and so the invention will be described typically in such uses, but without limitation thereto. The features and characteristics of the invention will best be understood from the following detailed description of typical forms, referring for that purpose to the accompanying drawing in which: v

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevation showing the application of the inventionto a typical structural arch knee; Fig. 2 shows the parts of Fig. 1 disassembled;

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing application of the invention to the knee and apex of a sawtooth structural arch;

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5--5 of Fig. 1.

In the drawing a column I is shown, vand one beam member II. Typically these may be a ncolumn and one beam member of a structural arch common in steel framed buildings; and typically these members are of I or H section. As such, they have webs I2 and I3 and flanges I4 and I5.

At the knee joint of members kIIJ and EI both are cut back to remove their anges. At a distance from their ends depending on the radius desired for the inserted gusset plate, the inner flanges of the column and beam are cut to present preferably square shoulders I6, which shoulders preferably also extend a short distance into the webs I2 and I3 as shown. Another cut is made, at Il in the column and I8 in the beam, parallel to the length of those members and extending from their ends to the bases of the square shoulders cessed along their inner sides at their joining ends and the square shoulders I are presented at the ends of the recesses.

The two directly joining ends Vof the column and beam may be joined in any suitable manner. 'llhey are preferably shown as' having the cut edge of one (as I8 of beam I3) overlapping and welded to the end of the other. VFor that purpose, as here shown, the end of the column is I0. The members are thus recut at an angle as at I9 so as to abut atly against the cut edge I8 of the beam flange; and the two abutting edges are welded, as indicated at 20 infFig. 1. 'Ihe outer flange |40, of column I2 may be continued upwardly across the end of beam II by flange extension 2| which may be r welded to the column flange I4a at 22 and to the beam flange |411. at 23.

A gusset plate 30, roughly of triangular shape, is inserted in the angle between the beam and column, extending between the square-shoulders I6 an-d filling the recesses which have been cut out of the beam and column. For a structure such as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the gusset plate 30 has a vertical edge 3I adapted to abut the vertical cut edge I1 of the column web, and a slopingedge 32 adaptedtoabut the cut edge I8 of beam web I3. The ends of the'triangularshaped gusset plate are defined by end surfaces 33 which abut the two square-shoulder surfaces I5 of the beam and column. When finally set up, as shown in Fig. l, the labutting edgestl and I1 are welded, as indicated at 34 in Fig. ',1, and the abutting edges 32 and I8 are welded as indicated at 35 in that figure. And the abutting square-shouldered surfaces 33 and I6 are also welded as indicated at 36 in Fig. 1.

The otherwise free edge of gusset plate 30, indicated at 40 in Fig. 2, is preferably curved, and in the preferred design this curved edge 40 :is preferably tangent to the external surfaces of flanges I4 and I5 of the column 'and beam. The curved edge of plate 30 is provided with a similarly curved flange 4I which is welded to plate 30 by the wel-d. indicated at 42. vFlange 4I may have its ends flush with the plate ends 33, and if the curved plate edge 40 is then designed to be recessed beyond the external surfaces of anges I4 and I5, the ends of anges 4I will abut the cut shouldered ends of flanges I4 and I5 an-d may be welded thereto. But it is preferred to make the structure as shown in the drawing, with the curved plate edge 40 tangent to the surfaces of flanges I4 and I5, and to extend the gusset flange 4I by extensions 4Ia which overlie flanges I4 and I5 and are Welded to those flanges in any suitable manner. They are for instance shown as being welded laround their end edges, as indicated at 44 in Figs. 4 and 5. Thus welded, the gusset ange 4I forms a connection continuation of flanges I4 and I5, capable of transmitting either tension or compression between the column and beam flanges.

The whole structure when finally set up and Welded as shown in Fig. 1 forms an extremely simple and exceptionally strong structure for the purposes which have been indicated. The size of the inserted gusset, and the radius of curvature of itscurved edge and of ange 4I, will depend upon purely engineering considerations of the stresses involved. But for lany given size and design, theV structure which we have here described is exceptionally strong and rigid because it forms a virtually integral connection between the beam and column and between the beam and column flanges, and because of the thrust taking abilities of the square thrust shoulders at I6, 33.

Fig. 3 shows the typical adaptation ofA our structure to a frame structure of the saw-tooth type. A column I2 is the same as that described l in connection with Fig. 1, as is also the gusset` plate 30 and its curved flange 4|. Insteadof overlapping the beam I Ia over the top end; of column I2, the inclined strut I2b has its lower end set upon the upper end of column I2, and againstthe end of beam Ila, and welded thereto as shown at 50. In the design as here shown, the angle included between column I2 and strut |21) is rather near a straight angle and therefore may not vneed the insertion of the gusset plate; but, if desired, the gusset plate structure may be inserted in that angle in the same general manner as inserted in the other angles herefdescribed.

The upper part of Fig. 3 shows the upper end of inclined beam IIb, which is a duplicate of the beam I Ia whose lower end is shown in the lower part of Fig. 2. The juncture of the upper end of IIfb and the upper end'of inclined strut I2b is shown as being the same as that described in I connection with Fig. 1, and thus involves the same gusset plate 30 with its flange 4I, and the same relationships and weldings as described in connection with Fig. l.

We claim:

1. A structure including two webbed and flanged structural members meeting and joined together at an angle with their webs in a common plane and with their inner flanged edges dening an included angle of less than 180, the two members being recessed along their inner angularly disposed edges, their recesses beginning at the meeting point of the two webs and the ends of their recesses being dened by substantially square thrust shoulders at the termini of their flanges and the sides of their recesses being defined by web edges substantially parallel to their lengths, a gusset plate having side edges iitting against and welded to said recess web edges, having end thrust shoulders substantially square to the side edges and fitting against and weldedy to the thrust shoulders which define the ends of the recesses, and the gusset plate having a curved flange welded thereto, forming a continllQlls Connection between the flanges of the members and Welded thereto.

v2'. A structure including two webbed and flanged structural members meeting and joined together at an angle with their Webs in a common plane and with their inner anged edges defining an included angle of less than 180, the two members being recessed along their inner angularly disposed edges, their recesses beginning at the meeting point of the two webs and the ends of their recesses being dened by substantially square thrust shoulders at the termini of their iianges and the sides of their recesses being defined by web edges substantially parallel to their lengths, a gusset plate having side edges iitting against and Welded to said recess web edges, having end thrust shoulders substantially square to the side edges and tting against and welded to the thrust shoulders which define the ends of the recesses, the gusset plate having a concave edge which is substantially tangent with the inner surfaces of the member iianges, and a curved gusset flange extending along the curved plate edge, welded thereto, extending beyond the ends of the curved plate edge, overlapping the member anges and welded thereto.

HUGO ECKART. JAMES E. MCCLELLAN. 

